Personal Space

Okay, so overall we really like it here. But there is just this weird sort of problem people have with giving you the proper amount of space.

With elevators especially. It's not that the people here are rude, they are actually pretty considerate like when it comes to letting you cross the street and holding doors open for you. When we have the stroller and need to go to the second floor of the Co-Op or the library, we use the elevator. More than once when the doors will open at our destination people, who incidentally are perfectly capable of using the stairs, will be waiting to enter the elevator. Both of these have only two floors, so anyone in the elevator when it opens is more than likely getting out. But they just stand there directly in front of the door waiting for you to get out. But WE HAVE A STROLLER. You need to step aside in order for us to get out. And we'll say "Excuse Me" unnessicarily and they take a half step back or to the side. Thanks. And they'll stand there and smile at you the whole time they block your path. And you'd think, "Well maybe they just don't realize they are in the way." But it's so obvious that in order for us to get out, they have to move. They are like standing IN the doorway. With 4 people. They aren't upset at you or anything, they just can't figure out why you are not exiting the elevator.

Same sort of thing has happened to us with building entrances where we'll be trying to exit a building with just us, no stroller or anything and just as we are at the doorway, a doublewide stroller pulls up and is trying to get in the building. Only clearly it won't fit in the door. So rather than letting us out quick, it takes 3 people to take one side off the stroller while blocking the doorway. And then try it again, only clearly it still won't fit. So then they take the other side off while blocking the doorway, until finally they can barely squeeze through the doorway the whole time we have politely stood at the exit waiting for them.

Or just now at the library we are sitting at a table and some art is hung all along the wall that we are sitting at. Some lady is looking at the art, standing too close for comfort. Kalina tries to get something out of her bag and the lady is standing so close that Kalina is unable to get in her bag. The lady says excuse me as though we are in her way. She is litterally standing about six inches from our table. This is a pretty open space, and art hangs on the wall opposite us, nothing else there, just art on the wall, and she doesn't even look at those. Same artist, same style photographs, more interesting even in my opinion.

Or yesterday in a store some lady and her daughter have their shopping cart sitting perpendicular to the aisle. We try to get thorough, the lady looks at us, continues shopping. We say excuse me and she continues shopping.

Like I said, it's not that people here are rude, it's just like they don't have this sense of personal space. Which is weird since people don't live in as close of quarters as say people in Chicago. It's nothing short of bizarre.